Jack M. Williams

Jack M. Williams
Born (1938-09-26) September 26, 1938 (age 88)
Delta, Colorado, United States
EducationLewis & Clark College (BSc)
Washington State University (PhD)
Known forDevelopment of organic superconductors
Scientific career
FieldsStructural chemistry
Inorganic chemistry
Solid state chemistry
WorkplacesArgonne National Laboratory

Jack Marvin Williams (born 26 September 1938) is an American chemist who contributed to the development of organic superconductors.

Early life and career

Born in Delta, Colorado, he earned his BSc from Lewis & Clark College in 1960 and his PhD in physical and inorganic chemistry from Washington State University in 1966.

After obtaining his PhD, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Illinois for two years. He was promoted to the positions of assistant chemist in 1968, associate chemist in 1970, chemist in 1972, and senior chemist in 1977. Additionally, he led the chemistry, material science, and technology divisions from 1977 onwards.

He also served as a visiting guest professor at the University of Missouri in 1980 and 1981 and at the University of Copenhagen in 1980 and 1985. He was also the chairman of the Gordon Research Conferences (Inorganic Chemistry) in 1980.

He retired from ANL in 1997 for health reasons.

Research

His early research focused on elucidating the properties of chemical bonds using X-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction. Attending the International Conference on Synthetic Metals in 1979 in Helsingør, Denmark, where Klaus Bechgaard and Denis Jérome reported on the superconducting behavior of (TMTSF)2PF6, introduced him to superconductivity in organic charge-transfer complexes. Upon returning to ANL, he built up a program in organic conductors and superconductors.

He played a role in the development of organic superconductors in the United States. Building his background in structural and inorganic chemistry, he proposed design approaches for inorganic anions in organic charge-transfer complexes, which contributed to the discovery of several organic superconductors, including κ-type BEDT-TTF salts, by his research group.

Awards

In 1989, he received an Alumni Achievement Award from Washington State University in recognition of his "outstanding accomplishments in research and service in the field of chemistry, bringing recognition to his alma mater".

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jaques Cattell Press, ed. (1986). American Men & Women of Science. Vol. VII (16th ed.). R. R. Bowker Co. p. 643.
  2. ↑ Who's Who in America, 1982-1983. Vol. 2 (42 ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Marquis Who's Who Inc. 1982. p. 3577.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Geiser, Urs; Kini, Aravinda M.; Schlueter, John A.; Wang, H. Hau; Williams, Jack M. (2002). "The search for new superconductors at argonne national Laboratory". Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals. 380 (1): 29–35. Bibcode:2002MCLC..380...29G. doi:10.1080/713738690. OSTI 813787.
  4. ↑ Williams, Jack W., ed. (1978). Present Needs and Future Trends in Neutron Crystallography and Spectroscopy (Report). Argonne National Laboratory. doi:10.2172/12236032. OSTI 12236032.
  5. ↑ Williams, Jack M.; Kini, Aravinda M.; Geiser, Urs; Wang, Hau H.; Douglas Carlson, K.; Kwok, W. K.; Vandervoort, K. G.; Thompson, James E.; Stupka, Daniel L.; Jung, D.; Whangbo, M.-H. (1990). "Structure-Property Relationships for β- and κ-Phase BEDT-TTF Salts and their use in the Synthesis of κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br: A Salt Having the Highest-TC (Inductive Onset = 11.6 K, Resistive Onset = 12.5 K) Yet Observed in an Organic Superconductor". In Kresin, Vladimir; Little, William A. (eds.). Organic Superconductivity (1 ed.). Boston, MA: Springer. pp. 39–50. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-2605-0_6. OSTI 6824343.
  6. ↑ Williams, Jack M.; Douglas Carlson, K.; Kini, Aravinda M.; Wang, H. Hau; Geiser, Urs; Schlueter, John A.; Schultz, Arthur J.; Schirber, James E.; Venturini, Eugene L.; Overmyer, Donald L.; Whangbo, Myung-Hwan (1994). "Structure-Property Relationships in Radical-Cation (Electron-Donor Molecule) and Anion-Based (Including Fullerides) Organic Superconductors and their Use in the Design of New Materials". In Kaldis, E. (ed.). Materials and Crystallographic Aspects of HTc-Superconductivity. NATO Science Series E. Vol. 263 (1 ed.). Dordrecht: Springer. pp. 539–551. doi:10.1007/978-94-011-1064-8_26. OSTI 10182370.
  7. ↑ Stewart, G. R. (2017). "Unconventional superconductivity". Advances in Physics. 66 (2): 75–196. arXiv:1705.05593. Bibcode:2017AdPhy..66...75S. doi:10.1080/00018732.2017.1331615. OSTI 1535362.
  8. ↑ Lang, Michael; Müller, Jens (2008). "Organic Superconductors". In Bennemann, K. H.; Ketterson, John B. (eds.). Superconductivity. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 1155–1223. arXiv:cond-mat/0302157. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-73253-2_20.
  9. ↑ "Alumni Achievement Award". Washington State University Alumni Association. Retrieved 26 September 2026.